Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas has been awarded a $97,000 healthy living grant from the Kansas Health Foundation.
Catholic Charities of Northeast Kansas is one of 22 new grantees in the state to receive healthy living grant funding, which will help increase the amount of Healthy Food options offered to clients seeking assistance.
This initiative will address three areas in improving Catholic Charities’ food assistance programs for the client: increase the availability of healthy choices; provide nutrition and health education; and raise hunger awareness in the community.
“Thanks to this grant from the Kansas Health Foundation, we will be able to expand our nutrition education programs to help promote healthy living and increase healthy food choices at our pantries”, said Kim Brabits, vice president of operations.
Funding for healthy living initiatives represents one way the Kansas Health Foundation seeks to address issues of tobacco use and obesity in Kansas. Grants were specifically targeted toward programs and initiatives supporting healthy eating, active living and tobacco prevention. Smoking and obesity remain the leading causes of preventable death and illness in the state, and combine to cost Kansas more than $2 billion annually in unnecessary health care costs.
“Providing funding to organizations poised to make an impact on major health issues like obesity and tobacco use is crucial to our work and the overall health landscape in Kansas,” said Jeff Willett, vice president for programs at the Kansas Health Foundation. “These are health problems that affect the lives of many Kansans, and are increasingly concentrated among Kansans of lower socioeconomic status, further compounding health and economic disparities in our state.”
All grantees—including universities, nonprofit organizations, state agencies and municipalities—received funding through a competitive application process, with individual grant awards of up to $100,000. In total, the Kansas Health Foundation provided approximately $2 million in healthy living grants across the 22 grantees. Initiatives funded emphasized strategies intended to lead to implementation of policy, systems and environmental interventions with the potential to impact a broad population. Through this type of grant making, the foundation opens up to Kansans who have the experience, know-how and inspiration to tackle some of the toughest issues facing public health today and provides the funding needed to see their mission accomplished.